Record Reviews

RGG / ROBERT WIECKIEWICZ ~ PLANET LEM MUSIC CORNER 074 (Barcode: 5906489287817) ~ POLAND ~ Jazz Recorded: 2023 Released: 2025 This is an album by Polish Jazz piano trio RGGFind albums by this artist, comprising of pianist Lukasz OjdanaFind albums by this artist, bassist Maciej GarbowskiFind albums by this artist and drummer Krzysztof GradziukFind albums by this artist. It presents a special project, which combines improvised Jazz music and fragments of the iconic novel “Solaris” by Polish writer / philosopher Stanislaw LemFind albums by this artist, one of the most important Science Fiction / Futurism world figures. Text fragments from the novel are narrated (in Polish) by actor Robert WieckiewiczFind albums by this artist. The album presents four lengthy tracks, recorded by Jan SmoczynskiFind albums by this artist at his wonderful Studio Tokarnia, offering the usual extraordinary sound quality. The album offers a multi-disciplinary experience, combining music and literary experience, which sadly is limited by the language barrier, but not only. Lem’s extraordinary messages, which penetrate deeply into the inmost Human experiences on the psychological, philosophical and social levels, are not easily transparent, and demand knowledge and openness to many aspects of the meaning of life and Human existence, which in today’s shallow world are mostly beyond the average representative of our species. I have been a fan of Lem’s writing since my childhood, reading them for the first time at an age, which did not allow me to fully comprehend their true depth and meaning, which of course was later reappraised by repeated re-reading of his older works and closely following his current publications. Therefore, this album on many levels combines the two great spiritual passions of my life – science and music, and of course I am surely not the only person experiencing a similar reaction. RGG is of course the most important Polish Jazz trio, as far as stretching the borders of the genre is concerned. They have left the straightforward mainstream Jazz path early in their career, which now is in the third decade, and even changing the pianist mid-way did not stop the clear development path towards Freedom and complete disregard of aesthetic / artistic limitations. I have been fortunate to closely following their path and enjoy the fruits of their labor, which never disappointed. This album, both in its concept and of course the execution, is just another splendid stop of their way towards the stars (rather than stardom). It is pretty obvious that the improvised (albeit obviously preconceived in many ways) music is absolutely stunning, and it does make sense on its own, but in addition to the text it is truly inspiring. Since I speak Polish, it is hard for me to say how a non-Polish speaker might react to the entire experience, but I am pretty convinced that the language barrier is surmountable. In any case, RGG never disappoint, and this is surely not going to start any time soon. Overall, this is a triumphant manifestation of the creative / imaginative powers of one of the greatest European Jazz ensembles, which by now is beyond the need to prove anything and can indulge in creating whatever they desire and feel right. In many respects, this this is just beyond recommendation!

Updated: 19/11/2025Posted: 19/11/2025

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SOLARIS ~ SOLARIS NOT ON LABEL (Barcode: 190317000531) ~ POLAND ~ Avant-Garde Jazz-Rock Fusion Recorded: 2023 Released: 2023 This is the debut album by Polish Jazz quartet SolarisFind albums by this artist, comprising of guitarist Michal StarkiewiczFind albums by this artist, saxophonist Tomasz LicakFind albums by this artist, bassist Ksawery WojcinskiFind albums by this artist and Chilean drummer Luis Mora MatusFind albums by this artist. The album, recorded live, presents six tracks, all original compositions by Starkiewicz. As the quartet’s name and album’s title suggest, the music is inspired by the writings of Polish author Stanislaw LemFind albums by this artist. The music is a kind of Jazz-Rock Fusion, somewhere between Heavy Metal and Free Jazz, with strong rhythmic patterns and advanced improvisations by the saxophone and guitar, somehow reminiscent of the two albums Starkiewicz and Licak recorded together as partners in the Beat FreaksFind albums by this artist quartet a few years ago, but way less restrained and Free oriented, probably due to the presence of Wojcinski and Matus, who hail from the Improvised Music circles. The music develops gradually from relatively well-organized intros and builds up towards tense crescendos, which gives all the musicians plenty of opportunity to show their individual chops and develop an ensemble statement. It has an industrial tinge to it, which obviously is intentional, as stated on the album’s booklet. Overall, this is quite original, and certainly rare musical statement on the local Jazz scene, which offers a unique approach to improvisation and creation of sound, which might feel quite alien at first, but certainly is highly absorbing and surprising. Listeners looking for new forms of expression within the widely treated Jazz domain, will probably enjoy this music immensely, despite the fact that it is somewhat an acquired taste, which sounds better and better with each listening attempt. Ambitious and unusual enough to be respected!

Updated: 20/12/2023Posted: 20/12/2023

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